Machine for operating on heels.



E. E. WINKLEY.

MACHINE FOR OPERATING 0N HEELS.

APPLICATION FILED OCT. 21. 1911. RENEWED MAR. 20. 1917.

1,295,9%, Patented Mar. 4,1919.

5 SHEETS-SHEET I.

E. E. WINKLEY.

MACHINE ron OPERATINGON HEELS.

APPLICATlQN FILED OCT. 27,1911- RENEWED MAR. 20.1917.

' 1,295,945.. Patented Mal. 4,1JlJ.

5 SHEETSSHEET 2. 14

Wizzeaaas Jnwmiar E. E. WINKLEY.

MACHINE FOR OPERATING 0N HEELS. APPucATmN men OCT. 21. 1911.

RENEWED MAR. 20; 1917-,

E. E. WINKLEY.

MACHlNE FOR OPERATING 0N HEELS.

APPLICATION FILED OCT. 27, I911. RENEWED MAR. 20. 1917.

1,295,945. Patented Mar. 4, 1919.

5SHEETS-SHEET 4.

745i zfi cici'ci'. Jupazfar A; WW

E. E. WINKLEY.

MACHINE FOR OPERATING 0N HEELS.

APPLICATION FILED OCT. 27. 1911. RENEWED MAR. 20. 19:7.

1,2953%5" Patented Mar. 4, 1919.

155 164 16 5 SHEETS-SHEET 5. Z f 50 D J a -53 L n s CL- x Wiizzewea 49 Z5; \1 51 Jrzvwzfir w m. @M 6 %M. W

Application filed October 27, 1911, Serial No. 657,150. Renewed March NITED @TATE@ PATENT I FTEEW ERASTUS E. WINKLEY, 0F LYNN, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR, BY MESNE ASSIGN- MENTS, TO UNITED SHOE MACHINERY CORPORATION, OF PATERSON, NEW JERSEY,

A CORPORATION OF NEW J'ERSE MACHINE FOR OPERATING ON HEELS.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ERASTUS E. WINKLEY, a citizen of the United States,residing at L nn, in the county of Essex and State of assachusetts, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Machines for Operating on Heels; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

The present invention relates to machines for making heels for boots and shoes, and more particularly to a machine, part of a system of automatic machines for making heels, for transferring heels in process.

In one system of automatic machines for making heels the heels are made of lifts of different sizes which are graded in stacks contained respectively in a series of hoppers. From each of these hoppers the lifts are. re.- moved one by one by picker devices and each lift so removed by a picker is first dipped into a receptacle containing paste and is then deposited upon a link of a conveyer which is moved along step'by step from the operative position of one picker to that of the next so that the lifts are superposed on each other in a pile of the required thickness. The pile of lifts so formed is then carried by the conveyer to a position where it may be acted upon by pressing and nailing devices. This machine is called a heel building machine. The producers of this heel building machine contemplated extending the link conveyenfrom the heel building machine to a compressing machine which would be provided with devices for automatically taking the assembled heels, one at a time, from the conveyer and compressing them into finished form. The assembled heels after leaving the heel building machine are wet with excess paste, so that their immediate introduction into the compressing machine is impracticable. In order to properly compress the heels it is necessary to break the continuity of the proposed system by removing the wet heels from the conveyer until they become sufficiently dried for an eflicient compressing operation. This manner of drying the heels necessitates the Specification of Letterslatent.

forming Patented Mar. a, 1919.

20, 1917. Serial No. 156,214.

independent operation of the heel building machine and the heel compressing machine Wl11Cl1 is undesirable in a system of machines for automatically making heels.

. In another system of automatic machines for making heels superposed sheets of leatherboard are sawed along vertical and inclined lines so as to produce a series of inclividual heel blocks. The' sawing is performed in an automatic sawing machine and the heel blocks produced thereby are deposited on a link conveyer loaded with the blocks, one to a link. The conveyer is extended adjacent an automatic heel shaping machine which is provided with mechanism for taking the blocks one at a time from the conveyer, delivering them to a shaping cutter which shapes the peripheral surface of each heel, and finally re-depositing the shaped heels, one at a time, upon the links of the conveyer. The shaping cutter operates advantageously on dry heel blocks. The sheets of leatherboard are preferably sawed while green so that in this, as in the other system, it is necessary to remove the green heel blocks from the conveyer until they are sufficiently dry for an eflicient shaping operation.

While this invention is described as being employed for transferring heels passing be tween two particular types of heel preparing and heel finishing machines for the purpose of permitting them to dry, it is obvious that such a transferring machine could he employed between any two machines in which the heels delivered by one machine are to be dried before they go to the other, or between any two machines in which heels, or a similar product, prepared by one machine are to have an intermediate treatment before being delivered to the other machine.

The object of the present invention is to provide amachine for connecting the machines in systems of automatic machines for making heels so that there is no break or loss of time in feeding a continuous stream of heels from one machine to the other during the simultaneous operation of the autoprocess, which connects the machines of the system, of means for feeding wet or green heels from one machine toward another and means for exchanging dry heels for the wet or green heels.

Broadly considered the invention contemplates the PI'OVlSlOn in the machine f ortransferring heels in process, of mechanism for removing the wet or green heels from the conveyer so that they may be dried, or placing dry heels on the conveyer, or for removing the wet or green heels from the conveyer and substituting dry heels therefor. Any or all of these forms come within the scope of the present invention as defined in the appended claims.

In the simplest and most eflicient form of the invention which has yet been devised a link conveyer, loaded with wet or green heels, one to a link, is intermittently fed to bring the heels one at a time to a certain station, and a compartment tray, loaded with dry heels, one to a compartment, is intermittently fed to bring a row of dry heels to the station, and means is provided for reciprocally exchanging the heels, that is, depositing the wet or green heels in the compartments of the tray and the dry heels on the links of the conveyer.

These and other features of the invention, including certain details of construction and combinations of parts, will 'be further explained in the following description and then particularly pointed out in the appended claims.

The various features of the invention will be readily understood from an inspection of the accompanying drawings in which,

Figure 1 is a side elevation of a machine for transferring heels in process embodying the features of the invention in the best form at present devised;

Fig. 2 is a front elevation;

Fig. 3 is a plan;

Fig. 4 is an enlarged sectional elevation of the picker;

Fig. 5 is an enlarged detail in section, illustrating the manner in which the claws of the pickerengage the assembled heel;

Fig. 6 is an enlarged plan of the drying trays illustrating the manner of detachably connecting them together; and

Fig. 7 is a side elevation ofthe parts illustrated in Fig. 6.

In the illustrated form of the invention the heels are fed, while wet or green, away from one machine in the system and toward another machine, by a link conveyer which is loaded with the wet or green heels, one to a link. .Before reaching the other machine these wet or green heels are removed from the links and dry heels immediately substituted therefor so that there is no break or loss of time in feeding a continuous stream of heels from one machine in the system to the other. These dry heels are loaded in a removable compartment tray, one to a compartment. The substitution of the dry heels for the wet or green heels is performed by a device which may, for convenience, be called a picker, at a certain station of the travel of the conveyer called, for convenience, a picking station. The wet or green heels removed from the links of the conveyer are substituted for the dry heels removed from the tray, and when the tray becomes filled with wet or green heels it is removed from the machine and stacked with similar trays in a drying room until the heels contained therein are thoroughly dried. The tray now loaded with dry heels is returned to the machine, thedry heels removed and other wet or green heels placed in the compartments of the tray.

Referring now to the drawings and more particularly to Figs. 1, 2 and 3, the wet or green .heels are loaded on a link conveyer, one to a link. The conveyer is fed in the direction of the arrow in Fig.1, away from a heel building machine, and toward a heel compressing machine or from a heel block sawing machine and toward a heel shaping machine, none of which is however shown. The link conveyer is'made up, as shown in Fig. 3,.of a series of links comprising fiat horizontal plates 1 which are pivotally connected by transverse pivot rods 2. The link conveyer is supported upon a guide3 having an elongated raised central portion upon which the pivot rods 2 rest. The link conveyer is intermittently fed through the space of one link to bring each wet or green heel separately to a picking station. The link marked PS in Fig. 1 is at this station. For the purpose of feeding the conveyer the pivot rods 2 are extended to afford bearings for rolls 5. These rolls are adapted to be separately engaged and embraced by two lugs 6 extending from a sleeve 7 which is loosely journaled on a rod 8. The sleeve is free to rock independently of the rod, but is constrained to move longitudinally therewith by means of two collars 9 and 10 engaging the ends of the sleeve, and fixed to the rod. The rod slides longitudinally in lugs 11 and 12 which are mounted in the base portion of the guide member 3. To

impart longitudinal movements to the rod and sleeve the rod is connected by a link 13 to the upper end of a bell crank lever 1 1 loosely pivoted on a horizontal rod 15 .carried by a bracket 16 on the machine frame. The horizontal arm of the 'bell crank lever is pivoted in a yoke on the upper end of a vertical link 17. The lower end of the link is provided with a yoke between the arms of which is pivoted an arm 18 projecting from a sleeve 19 carried by a rod 20 fixed to the machine frame. A second arm 21 on the sleeve 19 carries a roll 22 which is held in engagement with a peripheral cam 23, mounted upon a shaft 24, by a spring 25, one end of which is looped under a rod 26 carried by the frame, and the other end of which is connected to a third arm 27 projecting from the sleeve 19. When the lugs 6 are in engagement with one of the rolls 5 the longitudinal movement of the slide rod 8 and the collar 10 produced by the cam 23 and its connecting mechanism just described results in a. corresponding forward movement of the conveyer.

Before the return movement of the slide rod 8 and sleeve 7 by cam 23 it is necessary to disengage the lugs 6 from the roll 5, which is accomplished by rocking the sleeve on the slide rod. Thisrocking movement is produced by mechanism comprisin a gear segment 28 on the sleeve and an e ongated gear segment 29 engaged thereby. The gear segment 29 is pivotally mounted on a rod 30 fixed in brackets 31 on the machine frame. The gear segment 29 is provided with an arm 32 which is connected through a link 33 'to an arm 34 projecting from a sleeve 35 on the rod 20. A second arm projecting from the sleeve 35 carries a roll 36 which is held in engagement with a peripheral cam 37, mounted on the cam shaft 24, by a, spring, one end of which is looped under a rod 38 parallel to the rod 26 and the other end of which is connected to a third arm projecting from the sleeve 35. The cam 37 and its connecting mechanism just described operates to rock the sleeve 7 at the end of the conveyer feeding movement so as to disengage the lugs 6 from the roll 5. The sliderod 8 and the sleeve 7 are then moved longitudinally, as before described, so as to bring them into position to cotiperate with the next feeding roll 5 on the conveyer. At the end of this longitudinal movement the sleeve is rocked back by cam 37 to engage the lugs with said roll.

In order to prevent movement of the conveyer in the line of feed when the lugs 6 are disengaged from the roll 5 the conveyer is locked between the feeding movements. To this end the pivot rods 2 are extended to form bearings for rolls 39. The locking mechanism comprises lugs 40 adapted to engage and embrace one of the rolls 39. These lugs extend from a sleeve 41 ournaled on a rod 42 mounted in brackets 43 on the machine frame. The lugs 40 are moved into and out of engagement with the locking rolls at the proper times by rocking the sleeve 41. This is accomplished by mechanism comprising an arm 44 depending from the sleeve, a. connecting rod 45 pivoted to one 'end of the arm, and an arm 46 depending the mechanism just described operates to engage the locking lugs 39 with one of the locking rolls while the reverse movement of the gear segment produces opposite results.

The dry heels which are to be substituted for the wet or green heels on the conveyer are placed in a tray carried by the machine. The tray comprises an open box 47 divided into longitudinal and lateral rows of compartments 48. Each tray is loaded with dry heels, one to a compartment, and is provided with a series of rolls 49 arranged on one side of the tray and with a series of rolls 50 arranged on the other side. The tray is placed in the machine by sliding it on a table 51 which is spaced from the top 52 of the frame. The tray is guided by the series of rolls 49 and 50 which travel on ways 53 se cured to the frame (see Fig. 3). The tray is intermittently fed during the operation of the machine to bring the lateral rows of compartments in line with the picking station. To this end the rolls 49 are adapted to be separately engaged and embraced by two lugs 54 extending from a sleeve 55 which is splined on a rod 56 mounted to rock in lugs carried by the frame. The sleeve is thus constrained to rock with the rod, but is free to move longitudinally independent thereof. The longitudinal position of the sleeve on the rod is determined by a collar 57 loosely, mounted on the rod and provided with an arm 58 engaging the sleeve. The arm 58 permits the sleeve to rock while it is held from longitudinal movement on the rod. To impart longitudinal movements to the collar and sleeve on the rod, the collar is connected by a link 61 to the upper end of a bell crank lever 62 loosely pivoted on a horizontal rod 63 carried by a bracket 64 on the machine frame. The horizontal arm of the bell crank lever is pivoted in a yoke on the upper end of a vertical link 65. The lower end of the link is provided with a yoke between the arms of which is pivoted an arm 66 projecting from a sleeve 67 carried by the rod 20. A second arm 68 projecting from the sleeve 67 carries a roll 69 which is held in engagement with a peripheral cam 70, mounted upon the cam shaft 24, by a spring 71, one end of which is looped under the rod 26, and the other end of which is connected to a third arm 72 projecting from the sleeve 67. When the lugs 54 are in en gagement with one of the rolls 49 the longitudinal movement of the sleeve 55 on the rod 56 produced by the cam and its connecting mechanism just described results in a corresponding forward movement of the tray.

Before the return movement of the sleeve 55 by cam 70 it is necessary to disengage the lugs 54 from the roll 49 which is accomplished by rocking the slide rod 56. This rocking movement is produced by mechanism comprising a crank arm 73 secured to the rod 56, a connecting rod 74 pivoted to one end of the arm 73, and an arm 75 depending from a rod 7 6, mounted in lugs 77 and 78 on the frame, and pivoted to the other end of the connecting rod 74. A second arm 79 depending from the rod 76 is connected through a link 80 to an arm 81 projecting from a sleeve 82 on the rod 20. A second arm 83 projecting from the sleeve 82 carries a roll 84 which is held in engagement with a peripheral cam 85, 011 the cam shaft 24, by a spring 86, one end of which is looped under the rod 38 and the other end of which is connected to a third arm projecting from the sleeve 82. The cam 85 and its connecting mechanism just described operates to rock the rod 56 and sleeve 55 at the end of the tray-feeding movement so as to disengage the lugs 54 from the roll 49. The sleeve 55 is then moved longitudinally as before described so as to bring them into position to coiiperate with the next feeding roll 49 on the tray. At the end of this longitudinal movement the rod 56 and sleeve 55 are rocked back to engage the lugs 54 with said roll by cam 85.

In order to prevent movement of the tray in the line of feed when the lugs 54 are disengaged from the rolls 49, the tray is locked between the feeding movements. The looking mechanism comprises lugs 87 adapted to engage and embrace one of the rolls 50. These lugs extend from a collar 88 secured to the rod 76-. The lugs 87 are moved into and out pf engagement with the locking rolls 50 (Figs. 2 and 3) when the lugs 54 are moved out of and into engagement with the feeding roll 49. The tray is locked against movement until four feeding movements of the conveyer takes place. Then the tray is unlocked and fed simultaneously with the feeding movement of the conveyer which brings the fifth wheel to the picking station.

The feeding and locking mechanism used for advancing the trays and the conveyer is not claimed herein since such-mechanism forms the subject matter of the claims of applicants Patent No. 1,181,090, April 25, 1916 granted On an application filed February 4, 1915, as a division ofapplication Serial No. 579,110, filed August 26, 1910, which matured into Patent No. 1,102,310, dated July 7, 1914. v

The wet or green heels on the links and the.dry heels in the compartments are reciprocally exchanged, that is, the wet or green heels are placed in the compartments and the dry heels on the links b a traveling picker illustrated particular y in Figs. 1. 2, 4 and 5. The picker comprises a post 93 arranged to slide from a position directly over the link marked PS, Fig. 1,

at which position is called the picking station,

the frame top 52 is provided with an open ing 94 the sides of which are shouldered as shown at 95, Fig. 1, to support the base 96 of the post. The post slides on the shoulders beneath plates 97 secured to the frame top 52. In order to move the post 93 to and from the picking station it is provided with a lug 98 pivotally connected to a link 99. The other end of the link 99 is pivoted to an arm 100 loosely pivoted on a rod 101 fixed in a bracket 102 on the machine frame. The arm 100 is connected by a link 103 to another arm 104 projecting from a sleeve 105 on the rod 20. The sleeve is provided with a second arm 106 carrying a roll 107 which is held in engagement with a peripheral cam 108, on the cam shaft 24, by a spring 109, one end of which is looped under the rod 38 and the other end.

of which is connected to a third arm projecting from the sleeve 105. In order to provide an adjustment for the travel of the picker the arm 104 is provided with a curved slot 110 and the link 103 with a clamp 111. The slot is formed on a curve having the pivotal point of connection of the arm 100 and link 103 as a center so that by varying the position of the clamp 111 in the slot 110 the throw of the arm 100 may be changed within certain limits.

' The post 93 carries a slide 112 which is engaged at its upper end by a pair of rolls 113 mounted, respectively in the arms of a yoke 114 on an arm 115, pivoted on a bracket 116 carried by the post. The other end of the arm 115 is formed as a ball 117 which is adapted to fit and slide in a horizontal channel bar 118 extending the length of the picker travel. This bar is formed on the end of an arni 119 projecting from a sleeve 120 on a rod 121 carried by a bracket 122 rising from the top 52. The sleeve 120 also carries a dependin arm 123 provided with a roll 124 which 1s held in engagement with a peripheral cam 125, on a camshaft 126 journaled in the bracket 122, by a spring 127. One end of said spring is secured to an eye bolt on the top 52, and

the other end is connected to a third arm.

on the sleeve 120. Through the connections with cam 125 just described the icker sleeve is raised and lowered during t e travel of the ost in moving to and from the picking station.

The picker slide 112 carries a stem having an enlarged lower end 128 which slides freely in the lower end of the picker slide. The upper portion 129 of the stem is reduced in diameter and slides throu h a hole in the upper end of the picker slide. The stem is normally held in its lower position by means of a compression spring-.13 0 surnaeaeee rounding the portion l29-and inclosed within the picker slide, the lower end of this spring engaging the enlarged portion 128 of the stem. When the slide is lowered, however, by means 01 the cam mechanism just described, and the extremity of the picker engages a heel, the spring 130 yields and permits the stem to slide upwardly within the picker slide.

To seize a heel the picker is provided with three or more claws 131 mounted in radial slots in the lower extremity of the stem. These claws are mounted on pivots 132 and are of such form that they may either be drawn entirely within the slots or swung downwardly upon the pivots-s0 sharp points may move downwardly and out- \vardly into the heel, in the position shown in Fig. 5. In order that the prongs may tend to draw the heel closely against the bottom of the picker as the prongs are forced into the heel the outer curved side of each prong is substantially concentric with the axis of the prong and the inner curved side of each prong is eccentric to the axis thereof so that the acting face of the prong tapers or decreases vertically in thickness progressively toward its point. This operation of the claws is produced by means of a plunger 133 which has an annular groove on its lower end engaging heads 1.34 on the claws. The plunger slides longitudinally in the stem 128 and is provided with an enlarged upper extremity 135. Beneath, this enlarged extremity is a compression spring 136 which normally holds the plunger in raised position so that the claws are normally retracted within the stem; The plunger is actuated by means of a second plunger 137, a compression spring 138 of greater strength than the spring 136 being interposed between the two plunger-s to permit the necessary yielding of the lower plunger when the claws have fully seated themselves in the heel. The plunger 137 slides within the reduced portion 129 of the stem 128 and it is actuated by means of a cam lever 139 which engages the upper extremity of the plunger. This cam lever is of bell crank form, and-is pivoted on a bracket 140 fixed to the upper end of the stem.

In order that the hell crank lever 139 may be actuated to project and withdraw the claws as the post 93 travels from and to the picking station and as the stem 128 is raised and lowered the outer end 141 of the bell crank lever is held in engagement with a bar 142 (Figs. 1 and 2). The bar 142 is loosely pivoted on a rod 143 carried by the bracket 122 and is connected through a link 144 to an arm 145 projecting from a sleeve 146 mounted on the rod 121. The sleeve 148 is rovided with a second arm carrying a 401i 147 which is held in engagement with a that their a peripheral cam 148, on the cam by a spring 149. One end of said spring is connected to an eye bolt on the frame top 52 and the other end is connected to a third arm projecting from the sleeve 146.

The picker structure just described is not claimed in this application since this feature forms the subject matter of, and is claimed in, a separate application Serial No. 59,031, filed by the present inventor November 1, 1915- as a division of an application filed originally August 26, 1910, Serial No. 579,109 and later renewed on July 6, 1917, which matured into Patent No. 1,286,472, dated December 3, 1918.

In operating the machine a tray loaded with dry heels is placed in the machine by sliding it in the direction of the arrow (Fig. 3) on the table 51 with the rolls 49 and 50 traveling on the ways 53. These dry heels are obtained by operating the heel building or heel block sawing machine separately from the other machines in the system until a quantity of heels is produced sufiicient for a days run. lVhen the power is thrown on, the cycle of operation is as follows, it being assumed that the post is directly over the compartment marked PS, 1, Fig. 3, and that the link at the picking station is unoccupied by a wet or green heel. The cam 125 first operates to lower the sleeve 112 until the end of the stem 128 rests on the dry heel in compartment PS 1. Then the cam 148 operates to project the claws 131 into the heel. The cam 125 then raises the sleeve while the claws 131 are maintained projected into the heel and the cam 108 operates to slide the post 93 over the link at the picking station. The cams 125 and 148 then operate to deposit the heel on the link and to elevate the sleeve with the claws withdrawn within the stem. The conveyer is now unlocked and fed a step to bring a wet or green heel to the picking station and advance the dry heel toward an other machine in the system. The sleeve and claws are again actuated to pick up the wet or green heel advanced by the conveyer and deposit it in the compartment PS 1. The post, sleeve. and claws are then actuated to pick up the next dry heel in the lateral row shaft 129,

of compartments and deposit it on the linlr of the conveyer. These operations are repeated until a wet or green heel is deposited in the last compartment of the first lateral row when the picker is raised vertically and the tray is unlocked and fed to bring another lateral row of dry heels in line with the picking station and advance the row of wet or green heels over the table 51 at the front of the machine. The picker now picks up the dry heel in the compartment farthest from the picking station, deposits it on the conveyer, receives a wet or green heel and deposits it in the last compartment. When the second row of compartments is filled with wet or green heels the picker is again raised and the tray again fed. The parts are now in the original assumed position and the described cycle of operations is repeated.

The trays are of a size for an operative to conveniently handle. In order that a number of trays may be fed simultaneously in the machine, the rear of each trayis provided at each side with a locking lug 151 having a shoulder 152 and a sloping back 153 and the front of each tray is provided at each side with a pivoted latch 154 having a shoulder 155 and a sloping head 156. The latch is normally held against the side of the tray by a leaf spring 157. WVhen a tray filled with wet or green heels is removed from the machine another tray loaded with dry heels is slid into the machine until the latches 154 hook over the locking lugs 151. The trays loaded with wet or green heels are stacked in a suitable drying room until the heels are thoroughly dried.

The power by which the cam shaft 24: is continuously being operated is derived from a pulley 158 secured to one end of the shaft. The cam shaft 126 is actuated during the operation of the machine from the shaft 24: through a vertical shaft 159, journaled in brackets 160 carried by the frame, one end of which is connected through bevel gears 161 to the shaft 24 and the other end of which is connected through similar gears 162 to the shaft 126.

The term green heels is used throughout the following claims to designate heels which are not in condition for immediate introduction into a finishing machine, such, for example as the wet heels produced by the heel building machine or the unseasoned heels produced by the sawing machine hereinbefore referred to.

It is not deemed necessary to illustrate and describe the particular form of the several cam surfaces employed on the cam disksof the machine as any person skilled in the art by the exercise of ordinary mechanical skill could construct such cam surfaces from the foregoing description of the construction, organization, and mode of operation of the machine.

In the illustrated embodiment of the invention is shown and described a transferringdevice adapted to be used between a single pair of heel working machines while reciprocally exchanging heels one at a time from a single conveyer to a compartment tray. The claims, however, are not limited I to removing one heel at a time from a single conveyer but are intended to cover a device in which the transferring mechanism removes one or a group of heels from one or a plurality of conveyers and said group may be either in a path parallel to or transverse the movement of the conveyers.

While it is preferred to employ the specific construction and arrangement of parts shown and described, it should be understood that this construction and arrangement is not essential except so far as specified in the appended claims and it may be varied or modified without departing from the broader features of the invention.

What is claimed as new is 1. A machine for transferring heels in process, having, in combination a conveyer for partially prepared heels, a carrier for treated heels, means for exchanging treated heels for the partially prepared heels, means for actuating the conveyer, and means for moving the carrier only in a path parallel to the travel of the conveyer.

A machine for transferring heels in process, having, in combination a conveyer for green heels, a carrier for treated heels, movable relatively to the conveyer, means for advancing the conveyer step by step, means for exchanging the heels on the carrier for the heels on the conveyer while the conveyer is advancing, and means for advancing the carrier one step after the conveyer has advanced a plurality of steps.

3. A machine for transferring heels in process, having, in combination, a link conveyer adapted to be loaded with green heels, a tray adapted to be loaded with dry heels and means for engaging and reciprocally exchanging the green and dry heels, substantially as described.

4. A machine for transferring heels in process, having, in combination, a link conveyer adapted to be loaded with green heels, a tray adapted to be loaded with dry heels, means for feeding the conveyer and bring ing it "to rest with a green heel at an exchanging station, means for feeding the tray and bringing it to rest with a dry heel in line with the station, and a heel handling device for engaging and reciprocally exchanging the green and dry heels at the station, substantially as described.

5. A machine for transferring heels in process, having, in combination, a link con veyer adapted to be loaded with green heels, :1 tray adapted to be loaded with dry heels, means for feeding the conveyer to bring the green heels successively to an exchanging station, means for feeding the tray to bring rows of dry heels successively in line with the station, a heel handling device, and means for actuating the device to engage and exchange the green and dry heels so that the tray and conveyer are loaded with green and dry heels respectively, substantially as described.

6. A machine for transferring heels in process, having, in combination, a link conveyer adapted to be loaded with heels, means for feeding the conveyer to bring the heels successively to a certain station, a heelu'eceiving tray, andv means for picking up the 7. A machine for transferring heels in process, having, in combination, a link conveyer adapted to be loaded with heels one to a link, means for feeding the conveyer to bring the heels successively to a picking station, a tray provided with longitudinal and lateral rows of compartments, a picker, lneans for actuating the picker to pick 'up the heels successively as they reach the picking station. and means for relatively actuating the picker and tray to cause the longitudinal and lateral rows of compartments of the tray to be loaded with heels, one to a compartment. substantially as described.

8. A machine for transferring heels in process, having. in combination, a link conveyer, means for feeding the conveyer to bring the links successively to a certain station, a tray adapted to be loaded with heels, a picker, and means for actuating the picker to kick up the heels, one at a time, from the tray and deposit them on successive links of the conveyer, substantially as described.

9. A machine for transferring'heels in process, having, in combination, a heel transferring mechanism, a conveyer for delivering partially prepared heels to said mechanism. a carrier for delivering treated heels to said mechanism, means for operating said mechanism to reciprocally exchange the treated and partially prepared heels, and means for controlling the movement of the transferring mechanism to cause it to selectively collect the treated heels on the carrier.

-10. A machine for transferring heels in process, having, incombination, a tray adapted to hold treated heels in a row, a conveyer for carrying partially prepared heels, means for exchanging the treated heels for the partially prepared heels, and mechanism for moving said means in a path normal to the conveyer.

11. A machine for transferring heels in process, having, in combination, a carrier arranged to hold a number of treated heels in a row, a conveyer for advancing partially prepared heels, mechanism in the line of ad- 'vance of the conveyer for exchanging the partially prepared heels for the treated heels, and means for actuatin said mechanism to select the treated heels rom the row.

12. A machine for transferring heels in process, having, in combination, a conveyer, for heels, a carrier for heels, actuating means for the carrier and the conveyer, adapted to hold said parts, at times, stationary in a definite relation to each other, a heel exchanging mechanism for alternately transferring a heel from the carrier and placing it on the conveyer and vice versa, and means for actuating said exchanging mechanism, said actuating-means being adapted to move the conveyer to advance a plurality of heels, into position to be exchanged, while the carrier is held stationary.

1.3. A machine for transferring heels in process, having, in combination, a transfer mechanism, a link conveyer adapted to be connected between two heel machines to convey green heels from one machine to said mechanism and treated heels from said mechanism to the other machine, a carrier adapted to deliver treated heels to said mechanism and take away green heels from said mechanism, means for actuating the conveyer and carrier, and means for actuating said mechanism to reciprocally exchange the green heels and the treated heels.

- 14.-A machine for transferring heels in process, having, in combination, a movable conveyer for heels, a movable carrier for heels, a picker for exchangin heels mounted adjacent to the carrier an the conveyer, means for moving the picker variable distances from the conveyer, and a common driving means connected to said conveyer and carrier and adapted to maintain the carrier and conveyer in definite relation to each other during the movement of the picker and to shift the conveyer step by step after each movement of the picker.

15. A machine for transferring heels in process, having, in combination, a conveyer for heels, a movable carrier for supporting heels in rows arranged transversely to the path of movement of the conveyer, a picker for exchanging heels. means for advancing the conveyor as the picker places heels from the carrier thereon. and means for advancing the carrier after the picker has removed a transverse row of heels therefrom:

16. A machine for transferring heels in process, having, in combination, a conveyer for heels, a carrier to hold heels, a picker for exchanging heels'from the conveyer to the carrier and vice versa mounted for reciprotion in a rectilinear path across the carrier, means to reciprocate the picker, and means foractuating the conveyer and carrier.

17. A machine for transferring heels in process, having, incombination. a carrier for supporting heels arranged in lateral and longitudinal rows, a picker for removing heels from' the carrier mounted to move across the carrier, means to extend and shorten the travel of the picker step by step, respectively, forward and back, across the longitudinal rows while it is removing the lateral rows of heels, and means for advancing the lateral rows remaining on the carrier when the picker has removed a preceding lateral row.

18. A machine for transferring heels in process, having, in combination, a carrier for supporting heels arranged in longitudinal and lateral rows, a device for handling lid heels brought within its range, means for shifting the device across the longitudinal rows in steps the requisite length and number to bring it successively within the range of heels in a lateral row, and means for moving the carrier to advance the lateral rows of heels and place them in the path of the device.

19. A machine for transferring heels in process, having, in combination, a carrier for supporting heels arranged in rows, said carrier being movable in a path transverse to the rows, a device for removing heels from the carrier movable along the lateral rows, and actuating means to move said device and carrier and to alternately move said device the length of a row and the carrier the distance between the rows.

20. A machine for transferring heels in process, having, in combination, a carrier for supporting heels arranged in rows, an exchanging device mounted to reciprocate over the carrier for removing and replacing heels, means for reciprocating the exchanging device across the carrier, and mechanism for adjusting the said reciprocating means to vary the distance of travel of the exchanging device.

21. A machine for transferring heels in process, having, in combination, a carrier for supporting heels arranged in longitudinal rows, a conveyer, an exchanging device arranged to move from a osition over the rows to the conveyer and rom the conveyer to a position over a row, means for positioning the exchanging device over the rows, and mechanism for adjusting the positioning means to successively increase the move ment of the exchanging device from the conveyer to, increase its amount of travel the distance of one row until the exchanging device has been moved to a position over all of the rows on the carrier.

22. A machine for transferring heels in process, having, in combination, a conveyer, a carrier for holding heels arranged in transverse rows relatively to the path of travel-of the conveyer, a device for handling heels, and means for moving said device alternately in opposite directions across a succession of rows for removing the heels from the rows and delivering them to the conveyer.

23. A machine for transferring heels in process, having, in combination, a carrier for supporting heels arranged in longitudinal and lateral rows, a conveyer, a heel handling device, a cam to move said device alternately from the carrier to the conveyer and vice versa to place said device over the longitudinal rows of heels and the conveyer respectively, a cam for moving the carrier to advance it the distance between two lateral rows, and a cam for'extending the travel of said device the distance between two longitudinal rows after each of its reciprocations until it has traversed the length of a lateral row and then, after the advance of a lateral row by the carrier, to successively decrease the distance of travel of said device the distance between two longitudinal rows for each reciprocation until it has traversed the length of a lateral row.

24. A machine for transferring heels in process, having, in combination, a conveyer for heels, a carrier for supporting heels arranged in longitudinal and lateral rows, a device for handling heels movable along the lateral rows of heels on the carrier, means for actuating said device constructed and arranged to vary the extent of its travel along the lateral rows, to points opposite the longitudinal rows and means for actuating the carrier to advance the lateral rows into the path of said device.

25. A machine for handling heels in process, having, in combination, a conveyer for heels, a movable carrier for supporting heels arranged in lateral and longitudinal rows, a picker for transferring heels from the carrier to the conveyer mounted to move across the carrier in the direction of a lateral row, means for actuating the picker operating to extend its travel, row by row, away from the conveyer While it is removing heels from the carrier, and means for actuating the conveyer.

26. A machine for transferring heels in process, having, in combination, a carrier for supporting heels arranged in longitudinal and lateral rows, a picker for removing heels mounted to move above the carrier, means for actuating the picker to advance its path of, travel in the direction of a lateral row and across the longitudinal rows of heels, and means for actuating the carrier to advance a lateral row of heels for the operation of said picker after the picker has removed the preceding lateral row of heels.

27. A machine for transferring heels in process, having, in combination, a carrier for supporting heels arranged in lateral rows, a conveyer for heels, a heel handling de vice mounted for reciprocation in a'rectilinear path for removing heels from the car-. rier, and means to reciprocate the device across said carrier to remove a lateral row of heels and place them on the conveyer.

28. A machine for transferring heels in process having, in combination, a conveyer for heels, a carrier for heels, an exchanging mechanism for reciprocally exchanging heels between the conveyer and carrier, means for moving the carrier, means for holding the carrier and conveyer stationary, at times, in a definite relation to each other, means for actuating the exchanging mechanism a plunism, a carrier menses rality of times While the carrier is held stationary, and means for moving the conveyer to advance the heels to the exchanging mechanism.

29. A machine of the character described having, in combination, a heel transferring device, means for feeding heels from two separate sources of supply to and from said device, and means for actuating said transferring device to exchange an unlimited number of heels from one of said supplies for an equal number of heels from the other supply.

30. A machine of the character described having, in combination, a heel transferring mechanism, a conveyer constructed and arranged to feed heels to and from said mechaconstructed and arranged to feed heels from a separate source of suppl to said mechanism, and means for actuating said mechanism to exchange an unlimited number of heels from the conveyer for an equal number of heels from the carrier.

31. A machine of. the character described having, in combination, a heel transferring mechanism, means for feeding heels singly and in groups from two separate sources of supply to and from said mechanism, and means for actuating said transfer mechanism to exchange the heels which are fed singly for an equal number of heels which are fed in groups.

32. A machine of the character described having, in combination, a heel transferring device, a conveyer constructed and arranged 35 to be supplied with heels independently of said device and to feed said heels one at a time to said device, a carrier for supporting heels, and means for relatively actuating the transferring device and carrier to transfer the heels from the conveyer to the carrier and arrange them on the carrier in longitudinal and lateral rows.

33. A machine of the character described having, in combination, a heel transferring device, a conveyer constructed and arranged to be supplied with heels independently of said device and to feed heels one at a time to and from said device, a carrier for supporting heels, and means for relatively actuating the device and carrier to transfer heels arranged in longitudinal and lateral rows on the carrier from the carrier to the conveyer and to transfer the heels from the conveyer to the carrier and arrange the heels on the carrier in longitudinal and lateral rows.

ERASTUS E. WINKLEY.

Witnesses:

EMILY M. NUNN, WARREN G. OGDEN. 

